


Douxie Appreciation Week 2021

by Sergeant_Sporks



Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons), Wizards: Tales of Arcadia
Genre: Ash Dispersal Pattern Band (Tales of Arcadia), Camelot, Fluff, Found Family, Gen, Minor Angst, douxie appreciation week, lost family, oneshots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-14 07:55:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29913798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sergeant_Sporks/pseuds/Sergeant_Sporks
Summary: A series of oneshots for Douxie appreciation week, update every day for a week. Prompts are:21st centuryFound FamilyCamelotADPLost FamilyHow Douxie met ArchieNYC life
Comments: 5
Kudos: 18





	1. 21st Century

“Hey, Arch? How long of a nap do you think it takes for magical wounds to heal over?”

Archie glanced at his familiar. He was staring out the bookshop window again, as if waiting for Merlin to walk up the streets. “Who can say?”

Douxie was quiet for a moment, just a moment. “You think he’s forgotten about us?”

Archie glanced at the calendar hanging on the wall, wondering why Douxie would possibly be thinking about—oh. It was the anniversary of the Battle at Kilahead. “I doubt it. You’re not easy to forget, Douxie.”

“History seems to have done it pretty well,” Douxie replied glumly, playing with the pages of an open book.

Archie jumped up onto the bookstore counter next to him. The book he was looking at was Arthurian legend. And there was Merlin, in all of his old glory, standing next to Arthur. Morgana lurked in the background, ominous and threatening. And Douxie, of course, was nowhere to be seen.

Archie put his paw down on the page, preventing Douxie from flipping the pages around. “Alright, that’s enough moping, you. Stop looking at the past. It’s a legend, anyway, it’s not history. You need to get out. You spend all of your time either here or at the café, or hunting monsters. You need some down time.”

“Aren’t you the one who’s always nagging me to work on my techniques, or study my monsterology?”

Beside the point. “Shoo! Go… have fun! Bother Zoe or something!”

Douxie grinned, picking Archie up. “Fine, but you’re coming, too.” He glanced at the calendar. “I… don’t want to be alone.”

Archie purred. “I’ll never leave you alone.”

Douxie flipped the “open” sign to “closed” and locked up the shop behind him. “You know what I want to do?”

Archie padded alongside him. No one was really around. “What?”

“Try to get into trollmarket.”

Archie skidded to a stop. “No. Absolutely not.”

“Ah, c’mon, Arch, it’ll be fun!”

“You and I have a very different idea of fun! Have you forgotten that one, they don’t like humans, and two, they think cats are delicious?”

Douxie hopped up on a low brick wall, his arms out for balance. “That’s why it’s _fun_ , Archie, because they don’t want us there! Well, they do want you there, but not for a good reason.”

“Find something else to do.”

Douxie halted. “What about… that?”

Archie jumped up on the wall to see blinking lights. “The arcade? Bit outdated, isn’t it?”

“Ah, c’mon! It’ll be a fun waste of money!” Douxie grinned. “Plus, they have Dance Dance Revolution.”

Archie shuddered, glancing around before shape-shifting into one of Douxie’s coworkers. “Please, please, please, PLEASE do not restart your eighties phase. Please. I am _begging_ you.”

“Horrifying. Promise. I’m going to go play cheesy arcade games, and it’s going to be _awesome_.”

Archie followed him into the loud arcade. At least it wasn’t breaking into troll market. Filled with yelling kids and loud, beeping machines, but no one would eat him.

“The nice thing about this century,” Douxie yelled to Archie, “is that it’s very concerned with preserving the last one.” He ran up to the dancing game. “Hahahaha, yesssssss!”

“Oh, boy,” Archie muttered. Douxie had really, _really_ liked this game when it first came out. For reasons unknown. And had gotten really good at it.

Douxie put a few quarters in the machine and selected a song. Archie watched him start, perfectly in tune with the music, his feet slamming the right buttons. He wasn’t blinking, just stepping in time to the music. Archie watched him, mesmerized. Seriously. He _wasn’t blinking_. And was hitting every single perfect. Wow.

Douxie hit the final move, and the machine started beeping. “Perfect score!” it announced. The kid in line behind Douxie’s jaw dropped.

“Ha, ha!” Douxie crowed, “I am master of dance-step, musician supreme! Timing maestro!” He clicked in initials, “HDC” then grinned at Archie. “Look, I got a perfect score!”

“Yes, well done. I’m very embarrassed for you.”

Douxie grinned. “You’re just jealous because cats can’t play.”

“Good job, you figured me out.”

“No one can beat that score, Arch. No one.”

Archie smiled at Douxie’s excitement. There. One familiar, cheered up. “Congratulations. You will be remembered in the history of Arcadia as the Dance Dance Revolution perfect score. HDC.”

Douxie nudged his shoulder. “Well, y’know what? That’s not such a bad thing to be remembered for.”


	2. Found Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Turns out, Nari has a bit of a tragic past  
> And if you think Douxie would just let it go, you're dead wrong

“How about New Jersey?”

Nari jumped. “No. Not New Jersey.”

Douxie frowned at the map. The time ship was parked, hopefully not where anyone would notice, and they’d stopped to, well, to figure out where they were going. He’d just sort of gotten on the ship with Nari, Archie, and no plan to speak of. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. But they’d need to touch down eventually, to get supplies. Maybe find a place to stay for a while, so they weren’t on the time ship all of the time. “Why not? There’s a troll colony there—they’d probably at least give us a place to start .”

Sparks of magic flew off of Nari. “There is … a coven of witches.”

Douxie frowned. “A—a coven? Like, just a group of wizards?”

“Careful, Douxie,” Archie remarked, “Your Camelot upbringing is showing.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Nari jumped into the air, floating cross-legged. “Many use the names for magic users interchangeably. Arthur and his knights were especially guilty of this, and Merlin was not much better. But there are fundamental differences between them— _ especially _ between witches and the rest.”

“Spellcasters use, well, spells,” Archie jumped in, “It’s the most basic level of magic—you say a spell to channel the energy, and magic happens. Almost a ny person can cast a spell , if they have even the barest spark of magic in them. Some are much better, and have a natural aptitude for magic . Those are spellcasters.”

“Wizards have an item that amplifies or helps their spellcasting,” Nari interjected, “Like your staff, or your bracelet. They still use spells, but the magic effect is greater.”

“You  were born a spellcaster,” Archie continued, “Once you got your bracelet, you became a wizard. Your staff made you a master wizard. Sorcerers cast spells without a magic item, and without a verbal spell.”

“Like Claire,” Douxie offered, “Or a lot of Morgana’s magic.”

“Precisely. Witches… well, someone who is fully a witch cannot cast a spell on their own. They can capture the arcane energies, but cannot express them. So they use potions to create an expression of the energy, or a talisman. They capture the energy and store it in an item that can use it. No one really practices one form of magic over the other—Morgana practiced sorcery, but also used a staff. Merlin was most certainly a wizard, but to make a staff, or the amulet, a degree of witchcraft was involved —the different forms of magic are closely linked .  A few, though, they can be separated.  There are spellcasters who are only spellcasters. Like I said, it’s a beginning step. And…”

“Witches,” Nari said quietly, “Practicing some witchcraft, as Merlin did, doesn’t make you a  full  witch. But only being able to practice witchcraft does. Sometimes, a group of witches will bond, form a community where they all share their particular specialty of magic-item-making with others. Their weaknesses are covered by another member, and their strengths cover the others’ weaknesses . That is a coven. ”

Douxie leaned against the side of the  ship. “So, why are we talking about witches like there’s something wrong with them?”

“There’s not,” Archie remarked, jumping up on the railing, “Being a witch is perfectly respectable.”

“So… New Jersey?”

Nari shook her head. “No. The coven there… like Archie said, being a witch is perfectly respectable. They are an important part of magic. But like any other type of magician, there are… bad oranges?”

“Bad apples,” Douxie informed her.

“It is all fruit. The coven in New Jersey… they have not always been in New Jersey. Like much of the magic in America, they traveled over from Europe with the colonizers. And while they were in Europe, I… had a rather bad interaction with them.” She sank a few feet lower in the air. “It… took time to recover from.”

A spark of anger crackled in  Douxie’s chest. “What happened?”

“They caught me,” Nari said, and it was obvious, so painfully obvious that she was trying to be flippant about it. “Witchcraft is about storing the arcane energies of the universe, like other forms of magic are about harnessing that power in the moment. The universes’ supply replenishes itself, usually so quickly there is no discernable difference. However, the most powerful of magics can drain the energy to the point where there is no arcane energy in the area for a time.”

“In anyone but a witch, this usually manifests in fatigue on the magician,” Archie commented, “It’s the universe’s way of making the spellcaste r stop so it can  rejuvenate . Harnessing that much energy tires the conduit, your body, out , so you stop casting, giving the  universe time to replenish the energy. It’s not always the reason for magic fatigue—that also depends on the amount of energy you can handle ,  which is what separates magicians from regular people casting spells and  beginner magicians from long-term magicians. But witches… they don’t use their own body as a conduit. They use an item . So they can pull and pull without any consequences.”

“Except the consequences that using that much energy will have on the world around them,” Nari snapped.

Douxie blinked. “Nari?”

“They… used a stasis trap,” Nari said  quietly, “They used a stasis trap to catch me, and then they used me as a power source.  Bellroc and  Skrael found me eventually, and the coven scattered before they  could attack.” Nari rubbed her arms. “It took nearly a century for me to heal, and I lost my staff to them.”

The spark of anger fanned up. Usually, Douxie was pretty good at staying positive. But that—that was  _ disgusting _ . “Okay,” he said finally, in a voice that was just a bit too cheerful, “How about New York, then?”

Nari gave him a bright smile. She was trying too hard, too. “Sounds wonderful.”

Xxx

“Douxie?”

Douxie felt a small spark of panic. Nari sounded worried—and there wasn’t too much that could get her worried. “Yeah?”

“I think I saw someone I know today.”

“ Bellroc ?  Skrael ?”

“No.” Nari glanced back at the door, like whoever it was might have followed her. “One of the coven witches .  I—I think she came up from New Jersey.”

Something cold and steely seemed to solidify inside of Douxie. “Okay,” he said carefully , “Okay,  don’t worry. I’ll strengthen the apartment defenses . Stay inside until I get back, alright?”

Nari nodded, and Douxie slipped out the door, locking it behind him . Right. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply,  feeling for any signs of magic. There. A knot of it… very close. The witch had followed Nari.

Douxie stalked outside, following the feeling to see a young woman—or, at least, she looked young. But if Nari remembered her from before… She was  walking the direction of the apartment. Right. That wasn’t going to happen.

Douxie  strode towards her, tapping her on the shoulder. “Hey.”

She whirled around. “Who are you?”

Douxie held his hands up defensively. “Relax. I’m … like you.” He let a small spark of magic turn his eyes  blue. The witch relaxed.

“Yeah? What do you want, I’m busy.”

Douxie held up  the wrist with his bracelet. “I’m having a bit of a… malfunction, and I’m new in the area. You know where I could find a witch who can fix this? ”

The witch held her hand out, and Douxie hesitantly unbuckled the cuff, dropping it in her hand. She turned it over. “Hm. Wizard item, huh? Can’t help you myself, but someone in the coven might know what to do.”

Douxie snatched the cuff back.  “Great, can you take me to them?”

The witch sighed. “Yah, look, I’m busy tracking this insane magic energy, could keep the coven in  business for CENTURIES—”

An asset. A tool. That was all Nari was to them —that was all she was to the Order, all she was even to Merlin.  Did anyone care about  _ just Nari _ ?!

“It’ll still be here, and uh…” Douxie gave his wrist cuff a  little smack. “I’m kind of worried this thing is going to blow up the next time I use it.”

The witch threw her hands up in the air. “Gah! Okay, okay, I’ll take you . Geeze.  C’mere .” She  linked arms with Douxie and twisted a ring on her finger. There was an odd twisting feeling in  Douxie’s gut, and then they were standing in a living room lit by candles . The witch dropped his arm like a hot potato . “Hey, anyone home? ”

A few other witches filed in , glaring distrustfully at Douxie. “You brought a wizard in?!”

“Not a wizard,”  Douxie’s witch corrected, “A  _ customer _ .”

One of them eyed Douxie. “Oh? What for?”

Douxie summoned his staff, thumping it on the ground. “Have you heard of the wizard Merlin Ambrosius?”

The witch snorted. “Who hasn’t?” he asked.

“I was his apprentice. I am his successor. He appointed me master wizard.”

Douxie’s witch rolled a hand. “Get to the point!”

“Right. Now, tell me if you’ve heard of this person; Nari of the Eternal Forest.”

“That’s… what I… was tracking…”  Douxie’s witch replied, her face paling.

Douxie thumped his staff again, sending out a pulse of blue magic that knocked most of the witches off of their feet. “ She is under  _ my _ protection.” Another thump. “You will not chase her.” Thump. “You will not  attempt to capture her.” Thump. “And if I see you near her ever again…” one more thump. “I know where your coven  base is. I will protect her at all costs, do you understand?”

Douxie’s witch staggered to her feet. “You-!” she grabbed a nearby crystal and  sucked the fire from the candles, throwing it at him. Douxie  twisted the magic, grabbing the fire. It smoldered in a ball  above his hand, and tendrils reached out, burning a hole through the witch’s  skirt, close enough to heat-sear her, but not enough to actually burn her. 

“You will leave Nari alone,”  he said in a low voice, “ She is my responsibility. And more importantly, she’s her own person and shouldn’t be treated like nothing but a tool!”

The witch gave him a glare. “ Really? You really think you aren’t using her as a tool?”

A surge of magic pulsed through Douxie, like the arcane energies had decided that they’d like to be a mood ring today . “I,” he growled, “am apparently the only friend she’s got. ” He stalked towards the witch. “And if you  _ ever _ try to lay another one of your fingers on her I will  _ personally _ make sure you regret it.”

The witch looked up at him, and something that might have been fear flashed in her eyes. “What are you doing?!” she hissed, “ the talismans, why…”

“If you choose to use your magic to hurt others, then you don’t deserve it,”  Douxie growled, “And if you ever try to harm Nari again, I will take away your magic  _ permanently.”  _ he had no idea how to do that, but they didn’t need to know that.

“O-okay! We’ll leave her alone! Just... put the magic back.”

“Swear it.”

“I- I swear. We won’t. Don’t take away the magic, please.”

“Good. It’ll come back. This time.”  Douxie slammed the door behind him, making it down the street before his legs wobbled and gave out and spots danced in front of his eyes. What was it Archie had said about conducting too much magic?

“That was impressive,” his familiar’s voice said in his ear.

Douxie chuckled breathlessly. “Thanks, I think I’m about to pass out.”

A fly flew off of his necklace and shape-shifted back into his cat. “I didn’t think you were just going to strengthen the defenses. I figured I’d follow in case you’d like any help. But I think you handled that quite well on your own. The looks on their faces were  _ priceless _ .”

“Thanks. Glad you’re here, Arch, because I don’t think I can make it back home on my own. I feel like pudding.”

“Sure, you sucked up all the energy in the area and just held it. The universe is probably wondering what in the seven rings you’re doing.”

“’m protecting Nari.”

“Oh? Looked like a bit more than just ‘protection.’”

Douxie chuckled again. “Okay. Maybe it was a little itty-bit revenge for her, too. Shame I didn’t see her staff.” A wave of dizziness swept over him. “Oooookay. We need to get home before I pass out.”

Archie shifted into a horse, and  Douxie hauled himself up, clinging tightly to his familiar as they raced up from the small New Jersey town back towards New York City. They stopped outside the city, Archie shapeshifting back into a cat and the two of them getting on the subway. They made their way back to the apartment, where Nari was waiting, pacing. “What  _ took _ so long? I feared...”

“Good news!”  Douxie said cheerfully, “You don’t have to worry about the coven anymore! They will stay well away from you.”

Nari’s eyes widened. “What did you do?!”

“Paid them a little house call.”

Nari let out a startled laugh. “Why would you do that?”

“Because,”  Douxie said seriously, “It’s about time that someone started caring about you for you.”


	3. Camelot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Archie and Douxie arrive in Camelot. And immediately get in trouble

“I’m not so sure that this is a good idea.”

Douxie grinned at his familiar. “Ah, c’mon, Arch, that’s the FUN of it!”

Archie pawed the edge of the bridge to Camelot. “We’ve gotten run out of a lot of villages, Douxie. What makes you think that a bigger village will be any better?”

“Nah, that’s the magic of the city. It’s too big to get run out of, you can just hide.” Douxie picked the cat up. “C’mon. It’s a new start.”

“A new start doing the same thing,” Archie muttered as Douxie passed through the gate. Douxie let his familiar down.

“Big city means plenty of opportunity to do something new. We don’t have to do the same thing here, Arch, we can do whatever we want!”

“Provided… we don’t… do any magic…”

Douxie followed Archie’s gaze to graffiti on the wall that read _Magicians are murderers_. No one seemed to be making any attempt to clean it up. He gulped. “So people don’t always like magic. That doesn’t mean it’s illegal, right? Right?”

“Who can say?”

Douxie tapped the shoulder of the nearest passerby. “Um—hi!”

The woman glared at him. “What do you want? I’m not giving you any money.”

“O-okay, but I just… had a question?”

She folded her arms. “Is this some kind of trick?”

“What? No! Look, I was just wondering if magic is illegal.”

“Unfortunately not yet, but it looks like it will be soon, thank Excalibur.” The woman turned around and smacked at the hands of a young boy who was trying to slip his hands into her pockets. “I knew it! You were just a distraction! I’m gonna—”

Before she could describe and/or carry out exactly what she planned to do to Douxie, he was gone, jumping a fence and disappearing down an alleyway. “Oh, yes,” Archie commented, “A great start we’re making.”

“That wasn’t exactly our fault.” Douxie crept back and peered over the fence. The woman was dragging the kid who’d tried to pickpocket her towards a knight, yelling angrily. The kid didn’t look like much of a thief—just hungry.

“No,” Archie said sharply.

Douxie wrinkled his nose at his familiar. “No what? I haven’t said anything!”

“No, but I know what you’re thinking. You’re about to go play hero.”

Douxie grinned. “Try and stop me.” He backed up and vaulted back over the fence, dashing up and grabbing the boy’s wrist, dragging him away before the woman or the knight could react. The boy stumbled after him, barely able to keep up on his short little legs.

“They’re going to catch us!”

“Not if we run fast enough!” Douxie replied with a grin, “C’mon!” He ducked through a crowded market area, feet pounding on cobblestones, the knight in hot pursuit. Two carts were blocking off a side street and he hit the ground in a slide, pulling the kid under with him. He bounced back up on the other side with a laugh of exhilaration as the knight shouted at the cart owner. He and the boy trotted away into a quieter area where they stopped, panting, Douxie still laughing breathlessly, his hands on his knees.

“Whew—haven’t done that… since the last time I got chased with pitchforks.”

“Why?” the boy wheezed, “Why would you save me? I almost got you in trouble!”

“I used to be you.” Douxie stretched as Archie finally caught up, hissing angrily at him. “You’ll get the hang of it.”

“Hopefully not,” Archie said disapprovingly, “I shouldn’t think you’d wish a life on the run on someone, Douxie.”

The boy yelped. “Your cat! It talks!”

“And flies, too,” Douxie chuckled. He clicked his fingers, and a torch lighting up the alleyway went dark. “Let’s call it our secret, okay?”

“Whoa,” the boy breathed, “Magic!”

“It’s not as bad as everyone thinks. What’s your name?”

“Lanval.”

“Right, well, Lanval, remember, magic isn’t good or bad. It’s the person who uses it that decides that.”

“And you’re good,” Lanval said confidently, “You saved me!”

Douxie dug around in his pockets. He was pretty sure… yeah. He pulled out a couple of coins, probably the last of what he’d made in the last village to chase them out about a month ago. “C’mon, bet you’re hungry. I am.”

Lanval stared hungrily at the coins. “Are you… sure?”

“Yeah. My treat.” They made their way back to the marketplace (thankfully devoid of angry women and knights) and Douxie bought a few tiny pie things. He tossed one to Archie, who snapped it out of the air, and a few to Lavan, who scarfed them down, looking around like someone might take his food. Douxie knew the feeling. He ate his own pies, his eyebrows shooting up. Those were _good_. Right. His new mission in life was to earn/con people out of as much money as possible so he could buy as many tiny meat pies as possible.

Lanval gave him big eyes. “Can I live with you?”

Douxie let out a startled laugh. “Yeah, you’re welcome to crash next to me in whatever alleyway I decide to take a nap in.”

Lanval’s brow furrowed. “How are you not rich if you have magic? Can’t you use magic to get what you want?”

Douxie stalled for words. “It… doesn’t work that way. Look, Lanval, Archie’s right. Life on the run constantly, stealing what you need to survive… it isn’t the life I would have chosen if I’d had a choice.”

“It’s not like I have a choice, either!” Lanval said defensively, “I don’t have anyone to take care of me!”

“So take care of yourself. Find something you’re good at—and I think we can both agree that you’re not very good at stealing—and find a way to make it a way to survive.” Douxie glanced at Archie. “A long time ago, someone a lot smarter than me tried to tell me that. I didn’t listen. Here I am, planning on sleeping in a gutter somewhere. Maybe if I’d listened, I wouldn’t be in that situation. So, seriously. Find something else to do.”

“If you’d listened, you wouldn’t have been here to save me,” Lanval said simply, “So, thanks for ignoring them. But okay. Thanks for the food, and for saving me.”

Lanval ran off, and Archie wound around his legs, purring. “That was very mature of you.”

“You’re just pleased because I called you smart.”

“Maybe.”

Douxie stretched. “Well, today wasn’t so bad, was it? Made a new friend, didn’t get killed or imprisoned. Let’s find a nice gutter to sleep in.”

“I’ve got something better.” Archie stalked off, and Douxie followed him up a flight of stairs and on the ramparts. Archie padded across a plank that was laid across to a roof. A small shed/cover thing was set up on top, but there was nothing inside except for an old coil of rope.

“It’s _perfect_ , Arch,” Douxie said with a grin, sitting down under the covering, “Look, we can see the sunset. And the stars, I’m sure, when they come out.”

Archie purred. “Who’s the best familiar?”

“Definitely you,” Douxie assured him. He sighed in contentment, watching the sun bathe Camelot red. “I like it here.”

Archie snuggled up next to him. “You know, I rather think I do, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: Lanval is the name of an Arthurian knight (or at least is in one of the French fanfiction "arthurian legend" books) who married a faerie.


	4. ADP

Douxie eyed his voicemails. “Can’t believe Zoe didn’t tell them what was going on.”

Archie peered over his shoulder at the phone. “In her defense, you didn’t ask her to do so. And the Arcane Order sort of destroyed HexTech, so she might have had more pressing things on her mind.”

“That’s… a lot of voicemails.”

“You should pick up your phone more often.”

“Hm. Should I listen to all of these, or…?”

“Just call them back.”

Douxie hissed out. “Yeah, okay, we’ll try.” He scrolled through his contacts, calling the first member to show up. The phone rang for a second, and then almost immediately

“BY THE SEVEN RINGS, HE _LIVES_!”

“Heeyyyyyy, Sarahhhhh,” Douxie replied with a wince, “Sorry for not picking up sooner. I’ve been a bit…” he eyed the demigod tearing around their new apartment, fascinated with everything she saw. “busy,” he finished.

“Busy? You think _you’ve_ been busy?! Arcadia is TOTALED, dude, TOTALED! Buncha wizard demigod guys dropped a great honking building on the school! We checked the café? Nada, all the windows blown out, no one’s seen you. The bookstore? On fire, no one’s seen you. HexTech? Totaled, all of the hedge wizards gone, probably in hiding. We checked everywhere! Where have you been, under a rock?!”

Douxie looked up again at Nari, who was turning the light switch on and off. “Uh. Rescuing a demigod wizard from a great honking building?”

There was a beat. Then “WHAT?! AND YOU DIDN’T INVITE ANY OF US?!”

“Yeah, I’m sorry, it was all kind of sudden, I wasn’t-!”

“WASN’T THINKING IS WHAT YOU WERE DOING! DOUXIE, ATTACKING A BUNCH OF DEMIGODS ALONE IS ABOUT THE STUPIDEST THING YOU COULD POSSIBLY HAVE DONE! AND THIS IS _YOU_ WE’RE TALKING ABOUT! YOU DIDN’T THINK FOR ONE SECOND YOU MIGHT NEED SOME BACKUP?!”

“It was my problem, I needed to—”

“TO WHAT, DIE?! IT’S A MIRACLE YOU DIDN’T!”

Douxie didn’t respond to that. How exactly did he tell Sarah that he had?

There was another beat. “OH, MAGIC ABOVE, DOUXIE, DID YOU DIE?!”

“Just a little bit,” he said in a small voice.

“JUST A-!” there was a heavy exhale on the other end. “Okay. Okay, I’m going to sit down, and count to ten, and get the rest of the band on the line so that THEY can yell at you.” There was a slight thud, like she’d set the phone down.

Douxie covered the mouth of his phone with his hand. “I think it’s going well, don’t you?” he asked Archie.

“Well, your ears aren’t bleeding yet, so I’d say so, yes.”

After about a minute of silence, Douxie’s phone started vibrating. Just. Constant buzzing. He looked at his messages. They were just pouring in, from the rest of the band, most of them all caps yelling. And then there were people yelling from the phone, asking him what had happened and more importantly _why hadn’t he invited them along_.

“I’m sorry,” Douxie said, trying to talk over the cacophony of voices, “Sorry—yeah, Tony, I’m sorry I’ve been skipping practice for a week, Tina, I know I should have called or picked up, I’m sorry, Alex, I was never going to invite you to spray paint the order’s ship with our initials.”

“You are no fun,” Alex grumbled.

“We’re a _team_ ,” Sarah stressed, “We’re here to help you when things go south, and you don’t leave us in the lurch without any warning! Where are you?”

Douxie glanced out the window. “Uh,” he said in a small voice, “New York City?”

Everyone went silent for a moment. “WHAT?!” all of them roared in unison.

Douxie ran a hand through his bangs. “Things got… complicated, and I had to leave Arcadia, and…” a wave of homesickness swept over him, and he sat down with a _whump_. “And now I’m in New York with a demigod and Archie and I have no idea what I’m doing and Merlin’s dead and I destroyed the café and I had to leave everything behind and there’s probably two dangerous demigods on my tail and I haven’t slept in three days and I _have no idea what I’m doing_.” The words tumbled out of Douxie’s mouth in a torrent, and the truth of “I have no idea what I’m doing” hit him like a sledgehammer. He really didn’t—they’d gotten this far, now what? He just avoided the order for the rest of his life?

His band members were silent for a moment. “Douxie?” Sarah said finally, “Do you need us to come to New York?”

“No! No, it’s too dangerous.” Douxie sighed. “I’m sorry for leaving you in the lurch, and I’m grateful for all your concern. I am. But… I’m afraid you’re going to have to find a new lead guitar.”

“IDIOT!” Tony yelled.

Douxie jumped. “What?!”

“You’re our friend,” Tina explained more gently, “You’re part of the band, so you’re part of the family. If you can’t be lead guitar anymore, that’s fine. But you’re still part of the family, and we’ll help you however we’re able.”

Douxie wiped at his eyes with a sniff. “Thanks, guys. It’s been… a rough week, and I… I’m still trying to process it. But… I don’t think I’m going to make it back to Arcadia.”

“That’s okay,” Alex said cheerfully, “We’ll come to you. For visits. It’ll be fun, like going on tour.”

Douxie’s lip started to wobble. He didn’t deserve them. “Thanks,” he choked, “You lot are the best.”

“We _are_ ,” Alex preened, “and don’t you forget it.”

“How could I?” Douxie glanced at the time, getting to his feet and wiping his face. “Okay, I have to work now. Bye, guys. Thanks for everything.”

One by one, his friends said their goodbyes and hung up. Sarah was the last one to get off.

“Bye, Doux.”

“Bye, Sarah.”

“Oh, and Hisirdoux?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t be afraid to call.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Roles in the band: Sarah is the main manager and song-writer, Douxie is lead guitar, Tony is bass guitar and harmony/background singer, Tina is the lead singer and Alex is the drummer


	5. Lost Family

_No!_

_Beast._

_Hisirdoux!_

_Jim!_

_I’m sorry! This is my fault!_

_Jim!_

_Our redemption._

_I love you, Jim Lake Junior_.

Jim snapped awake, blinking at the ceiling, disoriented. Not again. Not… he didn’t have any recollection of what had happened when he’d turned into that monster. Not really. But his nightmares seemed fond of reminding him.

Jim closed his eyes, but all he could see was the afterimage of every single friend he’d hurt, burned onto the back of his eyelids.

“Figure it out,” he told himself, “Note down what happened.” Jim took a deep breath, running through his nightmare. Arthur. Of course, that was how it always started, with Arthur taking control. Destroying the amulet. Usually the next thing was attacking Claire. This time, though… he’d been lurking in the shadows, had pounced, pinned Douxie and Archie down. Then…

 _Surrender Nari or the boy dies_.

A sick feeling washed over Jim. He’d… held Douxie and Archie hostage. The Order had used him, had used Douxie, to try and force Merlin’s surrender. Merlin had died. Merlin had died in front of Douxie, who thought of him as a father. _Jim had held Douxie down and made him watch while Arthur killed Merlin_. Jim’s head spun, and his chest grew tight. He’d held a hostage. He’d used someone’s loved one against them.

He needed to talk to someone—it was like he couldn’t breathe, and he needed to talk to someone. He glanced at the clock. Five AM. Too early for anyone in Arcadia to be up, and he wasn’t going to make anyone wake up just to talk to him. He pulled out his phone, staring at his contacts list without scrolling or calling anyone, just feeling sick. Finally, he pulled up the internet browser.

 _What time is it in New York_?

Xxx

Something was buzzing near Douxie. He sleepily batted at the air around his head. “Go ‘way, bees,” he mumbled.

“’s your phone,” Archie informed him.

Douxie rolled over, picking it up and blinking blearily at the screen. Who would be calling—Jim? “Hey, Arch? What time is it in Arcadia?”

“Five. Why?”

A jolt of panic shot down Douxie’s spine, waking him up more effectively than caffeine ever could, and he answered the phone. “Jim?!”

Jim’s voice crackled over the line, dejected and tired. “Hey, Douxie.”

“Is everything alright?! Is anyone hurt, is Claire okay?!”

“No—sorry, didn’t mean to make you worry. Everyone’s fine.” There was a beat, and then almost so quietly Douxie didn’t hear it, “Everyone but me.”

“Jim?” Douxie asked softly, “Is something wrong?”

There was another beat, then, in a burst. “Douxie, I remembered what happened when Merlin…” Jim broke off.

Douxie felt like the wind had been knocked right out of him. “Right,” he managed, “Hang on a second. I’m coming to you.”

Xxx

The call ended, and Jim sat there, wondering how Douxie could possibly—

A puddle of glowing blue magic appeared on the ground, and then a glowing blue Douxie popped out of it. Jim yelped, falling backwards over the edge of his bed.

“Sorry! Didn’t mean to startle you!” magic Douxie peered around the bed. “It’s an astral projection. I did one before, but you were… you don’t remember it,” he finished awkwardly. “I’d offer you hand up, but…” he swept one hand through the dresser, going right through it like a ghost. “Probably wouldn’t be much help.”

Jim scrambled up to his feet. “Douxie… what are you doing?”

“I… sort of thought you wanted to talk. I can leave, if you want.”

“No!” Jim rubbed his arms. “No. I… I had a nightmare.” Saying it out loud suddenly sounded so… insignificant. He was wasting Douxie’s time—it was just a bad dream.

“Y’know,” Douxie said, not quite looking him in the eyes, “I met some blokes in Egypt once that said dreams were a way for the spirit to travel.” He gave Jim a tiny grin. “I guess I’m saying not to blow them off, eh?”

Jim sighed, sitting down on the edge of his bed. “I think… it’s like everything that happened when I was…”

“Not yourself?” Douxie offered kindly.

That was a nice way of putting it. “Yeah. Everything that happened when I was… not myself… is trying to crowd in on my dreams, and…” Jim started to feel queasy again. “Douxie, did I… hurt you?”

Douxie shifted uncomfortably from one astral foot to the other. “You fought all of us. Just bruises, nothing serious.”

“Yeah, but I mean…” Jim sucked in a deep breath. “I kept you back. When Merlin was in danger, and I held you hostage and used you against him, and… he died because of that.”

Astral-Douxie seemed to stutter for words for a second, then sat down next to Jim, floating just above the bed. “When that… happened… Merlin didn’t give up. You held me hostage, yes, Jim, but… that didn’t stop Merlin. He didn’t surrender, he just fought to get me back. And Jim?”

“Yeah?”

Douxie gave him another tiny smile. “You didn’t squash me.”

“What?”

“Merlin fought back, he didn’t surrender. But you, you didn’t pop me like a grape when he did. Maybe Arthur was controlling you. But if he’d been controlling you all the way, you would have killed me when Merlin attacked. You didn’t have enough control to break free. But I think you had just enough not to kill me.”

Jim felt dizzy, like a giant pressure had just lifted off of his chest. Had he had any control? Just enough to not seriously hurt someone? Douxie had said that it had just been bruises—he’d thought it was luck before, but maybe… maybe it hadn’t been an accident. “You think so?”

Douxie nodded. “Besides,” he said softly, “if anyone’s to blame for Merlin’s death, it’s me. It was my plan.”

Wait—no, he hadn’t been trying to make Douxie feel bad! “We could play the blame game all day,” Jim hedged, “Maybe we should just blame the order?” He sighed. “I’m sorry. I know Merlin was sort of your only family.”

Douxie stared up at the ceiling. “A dragon told me once that family isn’t just who you have. It’s who you’re with. So… my family’s a lot bigger than Merlin.”

“You meet a lot of weirdly wise people.”

Douxie chuckled. “Comes with the territory of being a wizard, I suppose.” He got up and stretched. “I should probably get going. Don’t want Nari and Archie to wonder why I’ve been staring blankly at a wall for thirty minutes.”

“Hey, Douxie?”

“Mm?”

“Thanks.”

Douxie gave him a lopsided grin. “Sure thing. You ever need to talk, just give me a call.”

Xxx

Douxie opened his eyes to find that Archie had decided to sit on his head while he’d been absent. “Hey!”

The familiar leapt down. “How’s our favorite ex-trollhunter?”

Douxie tapped one foot. “He’s starting to remember what happened while he was the beast.”

“Is that good, or bad?”

Douxie shrugged. “I think it just is.”

 _Maybe we should just blame the order_?

Others—Archie, Nari, Claire, had told him not to blame himself for what had happened to Merlin. None of them had offered anything else—just told him to stop blaming himself.

 _Blame the Order_.

 _It wasn’t your fault what happened to Merlin. No one would have been in that situation in the first place if Bellroc and Skrael hadn’t put them there_.

He didn’t feel angry. Or sad, or… he just felt… relieved, maybe? It wasn’t his fault. Not all problems could have a clear person to blame. But this one, this one did. It wasn’t completely his fault, the order was at fault as well. Maybe his plan hadn’t gone as… well, planned, but that didn’t mean that everything that had happened afterwards was his burden.

 _Thank you, Jim Lake Junior_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Given that Jim's had the people he loves used against him before, I think he'd be pretty upset to learn that he used Douxie against his loved ones, even if he WAS under control.


	6. How Douxie Met Archie

Archie shot through a flame, purring. Freedom was _fantastic_. His dad wasn’t here to tell him no, or that his form was too small. He could just… be him. And fly through a fire someone else had left. He rolled around in one of the flames. He’d never seen the appeal of village-burning, but this was fun.

A not-fire noise reached his ears, a faint cry. Archie stalked towards it, ready to pounce. A goat that hadn’t gotten out of the village before brigands burned it? He crouched, wiggling, then _pounced_ on the whatever it was.

The tiny, black-haired toddler yelped, bursting into more tears. Archie jumped off, about ready to finish the job, but a pair of golden eyes looked up at him, still brimming with tears.

A wave of guilt washed over Archie. This village used to have _people_ living here, people whose homes were now burning to piles of ash. People who’d had squishy little babies with golden eyes.

The toddler yanked on Archie’s tail, and he jumped with a hiss, whipping his tail out of reach and snapping his teeth at the toddler.

“Meow!” the toddler cooed at him, “Mrow! Meow!”

“That’s incredibly insulting,” Archie told him, “You watch your mouth. You’re too young to know that kind of language.”

The toddler cooed at him again. “Meow.”

“I’m not even in cat form right now, you silly, silly creature. I’m a dragon.”

“Kitty!” The toddler walked off towards one of the still-smoldering fires.

Archie followed him, not even knowing why. “Hey, you weird little thing, you’re going to get burned!”

The baby reached out, and the fire _came towards him_ , turning blue. He gurgled with delight, clapping his hands and making the fire disappear. Archie’s jaw just about hit the floor.

“You’re a spellcaster!”

“Blellblasteter,” the toddler burbled back.

“This is—what?! You’re going to hurt yourself, stupid, you don’t know how magic works! Why did your powers manifest so early?”

The toddler gurgled. “Bire,” he cooed, snatching at more flames with his magic.

“Trauma?” Archie guess, “Your life was in danger from the flames?”

The toddler reached for his tail again. “Mrow! Meow!”

Archie pulled his tail away before the kid could yank it. “You’re no help.”

The toddler wandered towards one of the houses, stumbling on his tiny legs to a cradle and crawling in, snuggling up with the blankets. “napdime!” he said brightly.

Archie jumped up, squinting at words carved into the cradle. _Hisirdoux Casperan_. “Hisirdoux?” he asked.

The toddler lifted his head. “Me! Mliperducks!”

“Hisir—oh, that’s too long to say, who in their right mind names a child Hisirdoux?” Archie’s tail twitched. “How about Douxie?”

“Ducks!” Hisirdoux said delightedly, “Quack, quack!”

“Close enough.” Archie nudged Douxie with one paw. “You’re a squishy little thing, aren’t you?”

“Skishy!”

Archie heard the whinny of a horse, and Douxie sat up in the cradle. “Pony!” he crowed, “Mama?” He struggled out of the cradle, tripping and just crawling towards the door. Archie jumped down after him.

“Wait, Douxie-!”

Douxie crawled his way outside, where the brigands had returned, picking through the remains of the village for anything of value. Archie hissed. Vultures.

“Pony!” Douxie reached for one of the horses, and it reared up, startled.

“DOUXIE!” Archie leapt forward, snatching the toddler out from under the horse’s claws.

One of the brigands’ heads jerked up. “What was that?”

Archie grabbed the back of Douxie’s shirt in his teeth, tugging the toddler into the air. “Time to go,” he muttered around a mouthful of fabric, flapping away. Douxie squealed with glee as they soared through the air. Once Archie thought they were far enough, he came in for a landing, dropping Douxie on the ground and turning back into his cat form.

“Kitty meow, meow!”

“Right, no, kid. It’s Archie. Got it? Ar-chie.”

Douxie reached out and patted Archie’s head with one chubby hand. “Archie!”

Archie felt a purr rise up in the back of his throat. “This isn’t permanent,” he told Douxie, squashing down the purr. “I’m going to find your mother and drop you off, okay? I don’t have time to be messing around with little human babies.”

Douxie picked Archie up, curling up with him. “Nap,” he yawned, his eyes sliding shut.

“Did you hear me?” Archie asked, “Hey—Douxie! This. Isn’t. Permanent.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like to think that a rebellious teen Archie became (a very small) Douxie's familiar to spite his father and everything just went from there


End file.
